How To Turn Skills And Expertise Into A Business

how to turn skills into business expertise

In many ways, starting a business is easier than it ever has been before. The internet has unlocked so many opportunities for people to turn whatever skills and expertise that they have into a business that generates a decent profit. Launching a company these days doesn’t necessarily mean reinventing the wheel - it means using the abilities that you have and marketing yourself as an expert in the field. These days, your storefront is your website, and going out and knocking on people’s doors has been replaced by contacting them on social media. 

Having said all of this, it doesn’t mean that creating a successful company is going to be a piece of cake. With so many people having the same idea as yourself, there are a few things that you need to get right from the offset, and these are the details that we are going to be discussing in this article. So, without any further talk, let’s take a closer look at the ways in which you can turn your own skills and expertise into a business. 

Find People Who Need Your Skills 

The first thing that you should be looking to do is market research so you are in a better position to profile the people who need your skills and target them in the most efficient way possible. For example, you may have a trade that you are able to offer people. With so many people wanting to provide the same service, how are you going to make yourself stand out from the crowd? A company like Atkins Inc offer commercial cleaning, but they also provide irrigation and turf and tree care, the USP is offering a number of services under one roof. Once you have identified a USP for yourself, you can start focusing all your marketing activity around it. 

If you are starting the business on your own, the best starting point is beginning in your local area. Decide whether you will be targeting businesses or individuals, and use the internet as a tool for researching potential clients. Alternatively, if the skills that you are offering could be entirely provided digitally, you need to take a different approach to work out ways that you are going to speak to your clients using digital marketing techniques, search engine optimization and PPC advertising. 

Pick Up Freelance Clients

More businesses than ever are looking to hire freelancers, so if you have a skill which you can offer to people that is marketable in this way, why not start off in this area? One of the main advantages of freelancing is that it provides ultimate flexibility, so you can continue with your day job until you are ready to strike out on your own. Over time, you can build up experience and a portfolio of your work that you can show off to attract more clients. Your best bet is to target a niche audience to start off with. It is better to get a large share of a targeted audience rather than a tiny share of a wide one. 

Present Your Pitch 

If you are attempting to offer your services to businesses, you will need to find a way of getting in front of them so that you can pitch yourself and explain to them exactly what it is that you have to offer. Use LinkedIn as a tool, as well as business listings. If you are planning to contact them by email or phone, you will need to find a way of getting in front of them in the first place, which is never the easiest thing in the world, but it is a technique that is always worth perfecting. 

If you are going to be targeting consumers, your pitch will be very much made through marketing to them in different ways. You should be aiming to start off small and build up steadily over time. Once you provide a great level of service to a few clients, the word should start to spread and you will have people who are coming to you directly. We have already talked about digital marketing and what an important skill this is to master these days, but there is still a lot to be said for old-fashioned techniques as well. 

Know Your Why 

We have already discussed USPs a little bit, but this is what is going to make you stand out from the crowd. At the start of your business, you could try putting yourself very much at the forefront. After all, it is your skills and expertise that people will be paying for. For example, if you are planning to launch a business in which you sell your artwork or something similarly creative, you should make sure to tell your story. Give information like how you got into the field, what experience you have, and what are your major passions. This all helps to put a human face on a business and people are much more likely to put their trust in you. 

Start A Blog

If knowledge is the thing that you are planning on basing your business on, starting a blog is one of the best ways that you can generate success. Of course, it takes a lot of time and effort before you will be able to build up a following of enough people to make this a profitable enterprise, but once you push through this barrier, you may well find that this is a very rewarding business strategy. 

Your main aim is to build up a regular following of people, so start by providing useful tips and guides on a regular basis. People are looking for things that will help them in their everyday lives, so this is exactly what you should be providing them with. Once you have developed a big enough following, you have nearly limitless opportunities for ways in which you can monetize your blog such as ad placements, one-to-one coaching and product reviews. 

Offer Online Coaching Or Courses 

Going back to the business of knowledge, another way that you can pass this onto other people is through online coaching or courses. There are plenty of one on one online coaching platforms that you could already make the most of. If you have the right background and knowledge, you should be able to attract some initial clients. Of course, your success or failure in this industry all depends on how well people are able to take your coaching and translate it into their everyday lives. 

Like starting any business, you need to be able to find your niche and find a way of making your coaching stand out from the crowd. Once you have enjoyed some success as an online coach, a more effective way of targeting a large group of people all at once is by scaling your advice and creating online courses with it. Increasingly, people are looking to develop skills from the comfort of their own homes and this is exactly what online courses can provide for them. There are a number of things that you can feature in your courses including screenshare tutorials, audio recordings and video walkthroughs. Start off with a single course, and once you have generated enough of a buzz and attracted some good reviews, you can continue to launch more. Over time, this could easily turn into a successful consulting business. 

Write An E-Book Or Start A Podcast

Writing an ebook is another scalable way that you can pass on your knowledge or skills to a wide group of people. This is one of the most effective ways that you can brand yourself as an expert and encourage people to listen to the advice that you are offering to them. You will obviously want to choose a topic that generates a high level of interest. One effective way of doing this is by checking up on the number of keyword searches for your area of expertise. You can then set about tailoring your book to meet the current demands. Rather than targeting the most popular searches, you could instead go for ones which are a little more specialised so your book has a better chance of ranking on search engines. 

Another possible option is to launch a podcast. This is a medium which has enjoyed something of a spike in popularity over the past couple of years, and it is relatively easy to get involved. Choose a subject for your podcast and some hot topics that get people interested. Over time, when you start building up your audience, you can get your listeners more involved in the show and conduct some interviews etc. 

So, these are just a few ways that you can turn any skill or expertise that you have into a business. Essentially, building up credibility and a reputation takes time, but once you do, you can really start to enjoy some success in whichever field you specialize in.



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I hope you enjoyed this article about how to turn your skills and expertise into a thriving business enterprise.

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